I Hate Systems

"That'll be 70 Paise." Compass Carburettor said while staring at a couple of youths that had reddened eyes and seemed to be fuming. It was apparent that they had lost the game they were playing, and terribly so at that.

"Here!" One of the youths just slammed the money on the table and rushed out.

As Compass Carburettor grabbed hold of the money and calmly placed it in the cash drawer, he could hear the two youths cursing aloud once they exited the building.

Soon after, another group of youths arrived at the counter, staring at him in surprise, "Where did old grumpy go?"

"Old grumpy?" He couldn't make sense of what they said.

"The owner, I mean." The youth said, before waving his hand, "Alright, that should be 70 Paise, right? Here!"

Saying his piece, he paid his bill in habit and walked out of the building, whistling all along. He then looked at the couple of youths that left before, waving his hands towards them before making sounds as if he was catcalling them.

It was apparent that he was on the side that won while the other side lost the game all the times they played. The group with him also paid their bills and left. As it was 5:00 AM now, they were beginning to leave one after another, feeling that they had played enough.

As they passed by, Compass Carburettor heard them speak.

"Oh shit! I have internals today."

"Haha, same here! I studied everything, though."

"Damn, I didn't even touch the book."

"Well, if you pay enough attention in class, you won't need to study later."

"That's easy for you to say."

"Well, you have four hours to study. Work hard, haha! I'll get some sleep in the meantime."

"Damn you, topper!"

It seemed everyone frequented the place, judging by how they prepared the money to be paid without him needing to say anything. He collected them all and placed them in the drawer, for an instant tempted by the money placed in it.

Paise was the currency used by the place he was at now. A regular fruit juice cost 20-40 Paise depending on the fruit used.

And, he was being paid 20 Paise per hour. It wasn't much, to be honest. But, for the base position he had, that was all the money he would ever get. The pay was similar in the café too. He would be working around 10 hours there and would receive a payment of 200 Paise.

And present in the cash drawer was thousands. But the temptation only existed for an instant before vanishing. 'I shouldn't lust after money once again. I need to keep my priorities straight.'

As a businessman, his head whirled around money. So, it was hard for him to resist his instincts. But, he knew that his act of working was only to secure a place to be at for most of the day. If he wished to earn more money, he could have tried intermediary sales.

With his looks, he was bound to sell enough to get a sizeable sum soon enough. But since that wasn't his plan, he only worked for a minimal wage. In the café, he earned Mental Energy. And in the internet café, he browsed through the internet looking for clues.

It was enough for him.

He then looked at the prices of the hotel rooms, thinking, 'A decent room with an attached bathroom costs 50 Paise an hour. I'll at most need 4 hours to wash my clothes, take a bath, and sleep. I'll be spending all the money earned from the café here. Since I can eat enough from the café, that allows me to save the money I get from this internet café.'

'I'll be saving up around 180 Paise per day. It's not much.' He thought. 10 hours of working at the café, an hour for commute between the two places, four hours for rest and other activities. That would leave 9 hours of work time in the internet café, earning him 180 Paise.

Compass Carburettor then surfed through a website that sold through all sorts of goods, thinking, 'A fairly good sword costs around 30,000 Paise. But, carrying around a sword won't be feasible until the apocalypse actually starts. Until then, my Armament would be more useful.'

He then continued to look through for tents, emergency supplies, and a variety of things, sighing, 'Without knowing what this apocalypse would turn out to be, my preparations might even end up being entirely useless. Instead, I should memorise and familiarise myself with every place that might prove useful here.'

'If I need something, I can find them in the supermarket during the apocalypse.' He frowned, immediately recognising the risks involved with this decision, sighing as he continued to look through the maps until it was time for his shift to end.

6:00 AM, Gurren arrived on time, wearing a tracksuit as he yawned, noticing that everything in the counter was just as how he had left them, smiling, "Alright, you can return to work at 11:00 PM tonight."

"Yes, sir." Compass Carburettor nodded before saying, "I wanted to book a room for four hours…"

Before he could finish speaking, Gurren yawned as he threw him a key, saying, "There's a staff room on the second floor. It has a bed to sleep in and an attached bathroom. You can just live there for as long as you work here. It has been empty for long anyway."

"Thank you, sir." Saying his piece, Compass Carburettor jovially hopped through the flight of stairs, arriving at the room as he opened it, noticing that despite it not being used, the room was still being cleaned.

It wasn't much. The room spanned a length of eight feet and a breadth of six feet. Planed on one side was a bed, occupying most of the room space. Situated on one side was a bathroom, occupying similar dimensions as the room. It seemed it had been constructed so big due to the floor plan and the availability of space.

"Well…this is enough." Compass Carburettor nodded and slumped on the bed, exhausted, falling asleep immediately.

Author's note: December month's mass release quota:

Golden Ticket: 1 bonus chappie for every 12 GT

Magic Castle: 2 extra bonus chappies for every Magic Castle

Spacecraft: 5 extra bonus chappies for every Spacecraft

Read 8 chappies in advance in Privilege